Field Trip Guidelines

As you review these guidelines, please keep in mind that we are constantly striving for better and more consistent service.   Therefore, failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in your field trip not being scheduled.  This means that you will need to check a couple of weeks before the date of each trip to ensure that your trip has been approved.

THE COST FOR FIELD TRIPS IS $20.00 PER HOUR PER DRIVER AND $1.24 PER MILE (ADJUSTED QUARTERLY) FOR BUSES

• Week day Field Trips are only available during the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.
  • All trips requiring a Special Needs bus must be completed and unloading by 1:00 p.m.
• After school trips should not have an arrival time before 4:30 p.m., however, buses are not guaranteed until 5:00 p.m.
• Activity buses are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis with athletic trips taking precedence.
• All trips should load/unload in the designated bus loop at each school, with the exception of afterschool athletic trips.
• When requesting number of buses for elementary schools, please abide by the 60 passenger rule. Anything above 60 passengers per bus requires another bus.   Recommended passenger load for middle and high schools is 44 passengers per bus.
  • Special Needs buses hold 27-33 passengers (3 to a seat) and have 2 or 3 wheel chair spaces depending on the bus. Check with your bus center for more information.
• All Field Trips should be entered AT LEAST 10 school days before the date of the trip (with the exception of sports play-offs). This guideline is in place to allow the transportation department sufficient time to confirm and schedule your trip.
• All requests must be submitted to the staff member at your location who is responsible for entering trips into the Trip Request Manager system.
• A minimum of 2 hours will be charged for failure to cancel a trip prior to driver arrival for weekday trips (4 hours for weekend trips), with the exception of inclement weather.
• A cleaning fee will be charged if the bus is returned in an unacceptable condition.
• Damage fees will be assessed as deemed necessary by Transportation on a case by case basis.

• Requests can be entered for your location only. If another district location is paying for the field trip, you must select the Bill to Dept. option and enter the account info or your location will be billed. 
  • We can only bill to a school district location code or budget account, not an outside agency.
• Please do not enter a request with an arrival time before 9:00 a.m. or with a return time after 1:45 p.m.
  • You may include your desired arrival time in the comments section, however, buses are not guaranteed until 9:00 a.m.
  • ALL school day trips MUST be completed and unloading at the school of origin no later than 1:45 p.m. All trips requiring a Special Needs bus must be completed and unloading by 1:00 p.m.
• When entering arrival and return times, please do so in 15 minute increments. This assures consistency between time billed to the school and payroll through the bus centers.
• When entering a request that requires a Special Needs bus in addition to Regular Education buses, please enter separate requests.
  • A trip requires a Special Needs bus if any of the following are needed: wheel chair space, car seats, A/C, safety vests or an aide.
  • When entering a request with wheel chairs, please indicate in the comments section if the wheel chairs are manual or power in addition to the number of wheel chairs, car seats, etc.

• Please have a backup employee trained to use the Trip Request Manager system. If you need training for a new employee or need a new user account setup, please email the TRM account manager, or call 355-1289.

Trip Rates are as follows:

• $20.00/hour per driver
  • Driver rate is subject to change annually based on salary increases approved by the board
• $1.24/mile per bus
  • Mileage rate is subject to change quarterly and is provided by the State Department of Education.

Charges are accrued as follows:

• Bus and driver 
  • School day: school to school
  • School day evening: school to bus center
  • Non-school day: bus center to bus center
  • Out of county one-way drops or returns: school to return
    • Example – One-way drop on Monday at 10 AM from school to Camp Greenville for an overnight trip with driver returning on another day
      • Charge is from school to Camp Greenville and back to route’s next location
    • Example – One-way return on Wednesday at 12 PM from Camp Greenville back to the school
      • Charge is from bus departure point to Camp Greenville and back to school
• Bus only
  • Bus center to bus center (mileage only charge)